WGN Strategy Academy: Rocket League vehicle overview

12 Jun , 2018

Written by Jon Scarr

Rocket League has an uncanny ability to get people hooked after their first time playing, and even after being out on the market for two years on the PlayStation 4 and PC—it’s being played more than ever with over 29 million registered players. Read our Rocket League vehicle overview.

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However, there is one question that remains a hot topic of conversation amongst Rocket League players who are new to the series.

What’s the best vehicle in Rocket League?

Rocket League isn’t like other racing games when it comes to choosing the best vehicle. You wont have to look though a ton of stats and specs or mix and match parts to get your vehicle running at peek condition. As a matter of fact, the vehicles in Rocket League all have the same top speed, acceleration, and handing as each other.

The only two unique characters that you will want to consider when choosing a vehicle is the size and shape of the vehicles hit box and to a lesser degree the vehicle’s turning radius and. You see, in Rocket League, the vehicle hit box is everything. It will affect nearly every aspect of your game, so its very important to take the proper time to get a feel for the contact points of each vehicle when you first start playing.

What exactly is a hitbox?

So, you might be wondering what exactly all this talk about a vehicle’s hitbox really means. Essentially, the hitbox is the total area of the vehicle that the ball can strike, which can differ in size. Naturally, a bigger hit-box would make it easier to hit the ball, and a smaller one understandably would require more effort the hit the ball.

Your vehicles hitbox can also make it superior to others for specific tasks. Let’s take the merc for example, this vehicle has a higher front end hit box that makes it slightly better at ramming the ball across the ground. Where as the paladin, instead of ramming the ball in this instance, would result in a chip shot because of its wedge shaped hitbox.

When it comes down to it, the best car in Rocket League is going to be different for everyone. The best vehicle is the one you feel most comfortable with and perform the best with.

So now that we know that the best vehicle in Rocket League all comes down to personal preference, I’ve come up with two different categories for vehicles to help you choose, vehicles that are good for keeping the ball out of the goal, and vehicles that are good for scoring. Let’s take a look at a few examples in each category.

Vehicles that are good for keeping the ball out of the goal

If you are looking for vehicles that are good at blocking shots on net, and you either stay in the net most of the time or very close to goal—you are going to want to use larger vehicles. I recommend the x-devil, merc, and breakout to protect the goal. They can use flips to cover a large area of the net with their long flat body profiles.

However, if you are not the type of player to stay in or very close to the goal and want to take part in the action, you can choose a smaller vehicle. If you go this route, you’ll need to practice aerial manoeuvres to protect that goal to counter balance the slightly smaller hit box.

Vehicles that are good for scoring goals

There are two different mindsets when it comes to vehicles that are best for scoring goals. The first being that larger flatter vehicles can be used to get better paddle action on front and back flips. While the other mindset is that smaller cars can be used to make a precise attack on the ball from any angle.

I’d suggest that if you are new to Rocket League, go with the paladin or breakout. They are larger flatter cars and give you more surface to work with while you learn the game’s mechanics. On the other hand, if you are more experienced, I’d suggest using smaller cars for great accuracy on your shots.

If you are having trouble with aerial shots, I’d suggest using the road hog or the merc. These vehicles allow you to move the ball across the ground and have large flat frontal hit boxes that allows you to push the ball along a lot easier.

Based in Toronto, Jon is a proud Canadian who loves all things gaming. He is a veteran of the video game and tech industry who has been in love with technology and gaming for over 20 years. Come say hi and join the conversation with Jon on Twitter.